Genesis: We've Fallen and We Can't Get Up! (Part 3)

Caution: Don't Listen to Woman.

     So, now we are approaching the infamous “Fall of Man” story, which will be the final part of the Genesis creation story that I'll cover under the Cosmology section. I consider this the final part because up until The Fall we've learned of the creation of the universe and all living things, including us lovable humans. And we've even delved into the details of the creation of man via dust and woman via Baby Back Ribs®.

    And I'm sure we have all by now speculated on the impact of the notion of man coming first, and woman second, paving the way for patriarchal justification. Not to mention woman having little sovereignty since she is made from man. And we've witnessed the non-canonical story of Lilith, which illustrates deeper the tensions we've had (and by my guess will always have) between the sexes. While Lilith tried to be equal with Adam, he wasn't having any of it. He demanded to be superior. And so, the couple broke up, and God created a new woman—Eve, whom must have been a more submissive lover since we never hear of any sexual complaint by Adam. (Where was Love Line when you needed it? I think Dr. Drew would have been a better person to talk to then God in this case.) But...woman is not done messing up quite yet. What really nails in the coffin for woman as being perceivably wicked, which patriarchal societies use to their defense, was the sin of all sins....eating a fruit.

Before we start on Chapter 3, I just wanted to take a note of the last verse of Chapter 2, which states: “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” This line is important because it really shows the influence religion has had on the Western way of thinking about nudity (And I'm sure the Nudist colonies love using this line to push their free-balling ways.) But it is important to note that many cultures during Ancient times had no shame nor quarrels with nudity. Jewish culture began to sever thoughts on nudity in the West (yes, that was a circumcision joke.)

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But then, the snake came...”Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'” At this point, I would be shocked that this creature just spoke. But given the earlier likely interviews Adam had with the animals, perhaps its safe to assume all of the animals spoke back then. Flinstones, you were right. 

So, Eve responds with God's rule of eating any fruit of the garden except the one in the middle.  “But the serpent responds said to the woman,'You will surely not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she always gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

This is, I think, the most interesting part of the story of the Fall...that the first sin was not simply disobedience to God, but in the vain attempt to be like God. The first sin was hubris (or arrogance and excessive ambition). This part of the story is also interesting because it shows man and woman's own particular weakness to sin. Woman's being wanting something that is delightful to the eyes. (Designer clothing ring a bell?). And man's particular weakness, listening to woman. :-P

I joke, of course, and I mainly do so to show you the kind of influence and relationship this creation story has had on our culture and how we view gender.

“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”

After reading that verse, I often wonder why many artists depict Adam and Eve as having a single leaf. Perhaps they tried that fashion at first, but it was too risqué...or the wind blew it off.

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” So, God also likes to take a stroll from time to time; who knew? “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. He said, Who told you that you were naked?” Ignorance had been lifted. Then God asks if he ate the fruit he told them not to eat. And Adam, being a good, loyal husband.,blames Eve!

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Oh, come on now Adam. Pointing the finger at someone else, very mature.

And then God turns to Eve, and of course, she blames the snake. And the snake blamed his behavior on a bad mouse lunch he had that was stuck in his throat....ok, not really. So, now, God being the all-loving and all-forgiving God we've all heard about, begins about to curse each of participants involved in the sin.

To the snake, he makes him crawl on his belly. So, we can assume before this the snake had legs. It does seem strange here to me that Moses would insert a children's story-like account of how the snake lost its legs among such an important story as the Fall of Man. It reminds me of “How the Elephant Lost its Trunk” story I read as a child, where a crocodile bit and pulled it's nose out to make it as long as it is today.  But oh well, It's good information to know.

To the woman, he multiplies her pain in childbirth. And if that wasn't bad enough. He also says, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

If there was any doubt before that the Bible creation story is sexist, then I think that verse should put a rest to it.

To Adam, God says, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it', cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shal eat bread, till you return to the ground...”

So, in other words, God gave man work. Before that, the Garden of Eden provided everything for easy picking. But now, Adam, and mankind thereafter was destined to a life of grueling labor.

But God was not without total compassion. He did make them new clothes out of skins. I'm sure it sure beat the single leaf or fig loincloth.

In verse 22, God says something very interesting, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest her reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 

A Celtic rendition of the Tree of Life, by Jen Delyth.

This verse is interesting for two reasons. For one, because God still uses the plural when referring to himself, translated as “us” in English. So, who is God talking about? Him and who else? Angels? Other Gods? We can only surmise. The second reason its interesting is because it mentions the tree of life. No where else before had this tree been mentioned. And of course, later, Christianity uses the tree of life as symbolic of Jesus and/or the cross.

Finally, the chapter ends with the not-so-fortuitous excommunication of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. And the last verse reads, “He(God) drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

If you're wondering what a cherubim is, here is a picture.

It's pretty much Napoleon's favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic. 

No wait, sorry, that is a Liger, from Napoleon Dynamite.

Cherubs, or Cherubim (plural), aka: Heaven's pet, turn up from time to time in the Bible, They are a kind of heavenly and highly symbolic creature. They often consist of a combination of animals, similar to the griffin. They sometimes are thought to be angels, but they seem unique in that they have a number of animal characteristics. Here's are more accurate depictions of them.

Cherub, described by Ezekiel.

Cherubs are also a part of Mesopotamian and Egyptian mythology, which some believe is where the Hebrews picked it up from.

  As for the flaming sword.  You might be wondering why God would put such a ominous( yet pretty nifty) weapon next to the tree of life.  A flaming sword says to most people, I would think, "Stay Away".  Some believe that the fire, though usually bad and used to destroy throughout the Bible, is a cleansing type of fire, one that purifies man from sin.  And the sword is thought to dissuade the sinful from entering. The authors of the New Testament talk copiously about the symbolism of the formidable deterrent.   Indeed, it would take a brave and sinless man to walk past a flame-sword wielding cherub, although nun-chucks would've sufficed .  But I think the ultimate point here is, that getting back to God will not be easy.